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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22617838">Safe and Warm</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/'>Anonymous</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Hermitcraft</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Comfort No Hurt, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Denial of Feelings, F/M, Fluff, Literal Sleeping Together, Overworking, Pre-Relationship, Sleep Deprivation</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 00:34:02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,395</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22617838</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Stress was just trying to deliver a shipment of ice to Sahara when she found a certain sweater-wearing hermit <s>who she absolutely <em>does not</em> have feelings for</s> passed out in the meeting room. Cuteness ensues.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Grian/Stress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>80</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Anonymous</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Safe and Warm</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As Stress walked into the back end of Sahara, even for what felt like the hundredth time, she was slightly overwhelmed by how <em>enormous</em> it was.</p>
<p>It was a well-understood feeling by every member of the server. Sahara was probably one of, if not the biggest redstone projects on the server, impressive to even experienced redstoners (which Stress was not). It was normal to be slightly in awe.</p>
<p>What <em>wasn’t</em> normal was the man collapsed on the floor when Stress entered the meeting room.</p>
<p>The red sweater gave away who it was immediately. Grian was laying awkwardly against the table next to his chair, out cold. Stress set down the shulker box of ice she was delivering and rushed over to see if he was okay.</p>
<p>Stress moved Grian off the table, noting that he looked <em>very</em> tired, before shaking his shoulder. “Grian? Grian, are ya alright?”</p>
<p>Stress sighed in relief when Grian moved, mumbling something before blinking his eyes open. “Mmm… Stress?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, it’s me. What ‘appened?” Stress helped Grian sit up against his chair.</p>
<p>“Dunno… ’m really tired… but I had work to do…” Grian seemed to be struggling to keep his eyes open.</p>
<p>“Wait… Grian, when was the last time ya slept?”</p>
<p>“Mmm… couple days…?” Stress’ eyes widened. “<em>Days?</em> Oh love, ya must be exhausted! Ya shouldn’t overwork yourself like that, ya need t'sleep!”</p>
<p>“But I gotta restock…” Stress cut him off. “No, sweetheart, what ya need is a nice bed and a long rest. Work can wait.”</p>
<p>Grian protested weakly as Stress picked him up, but wrapped his arms around her nonetheless. She thought for a second before deciding that trying to fly wouldn’t be wise, so his base was off-limits…</p>
<p>Maybe she could take him to her base? She never used her bedroom, but it was quite nice, and he needed somewhere safe to sleep. Yes, that would do.</p>
<p>Stress felt Grian stop moving and his breathing even out before she even exited Sahara, and glanced over to see him asleep on her shoulder. <em>Cute…</em> Stress ignored her thoughts. <em>She was just getting him to a bed, anyway.</em></p>
<p>On the way back to her castle, Stress silently thanked herself for all those hours she spent hauling ice and building materials around her base. Grian wasn’t exactly light, and even via the nether, her base wasn’t exactly close.</p>
<p>Even though Stress wasn’t weak by any means, she was still starting to get tired by the time she arrived at her castle. By the time she was up a flight of stairs and opening her bedroom door, her arms and legs felt like they were about to give out.</p>
<p>Despite her aching arms telling her to just throw him on the bed and go, she tried to set him down as gently as possible, carefully untangling his arms from around her before laying him down.</p>
<p>Stress pulled the blanket over him, rationalizing that even if she was used to the cold temperatures, Grian wouldn’t be. She then sat on the edge of the bed to catch her breath for a minute.</p>
<p>A minute turned to five, and Stress caught herself nearly dozing off while sitting there. <em>Well, it was late, as delivering that ice was her last task, and carrying Grian all this way had been exhausting…</em></p>
<p>Stress yawned and leaned over, laying next to Grian on top of the blanket. <em>She was really tired… surely it wouldn’t hurt to close her eyes for just a second?</em></p>
<p>Half-asleep, Stress turned to wrap her arms around Grian, and smiled slightly. <em>He’s warm…</em></p>
<p>She was asleep within a minute.</p>
<p>-</p>
<p>The first thing Grian felt, before he fully awoke, was warmth.</p>
<p>He was never this warm when he woke up. His base was rather drafty, and he never remembered to replace his thin blanket, so he usually woke up shivering. It was nice to wake up like this.</p>
<p>Nice, but strange, because as Grian became more awake, the more aware he was that he was definitely <em>not</em> at his base. The blanket on him was quilted, it smelled slightly of cinnamon, and <em>someone was laying next to him.</em></p>
<p>The last part was the most concerning to Grian. He remembered passing out, and vaguely recalled someone waking him up, but he didn’t remember anything else. He really, <em>really</em> hoped he hadn’t done anything impulsive while sleep-deprived.</p>
<p>Steeling himself for the worst, Grian opened his eyes, blinking a few times to adjust to the light. Slowly looking down next to him, he saw Stress, holding on to him and with her head buried into the blankets at his side. <em>Oh. Um.</em></p>
<p>Grian tried to carefully move away and sit up, but it seemed to disturb her, and he froze when Stress stirred. “Mmh… wha…” She looked up sleepily before a look of dawning realization crossed her face. She sat up, blushing, and pulled away from Grian. <em>He was</em> not <em>going to think about how he wished she would have stayed there.</em></p>
<p>“Oh! I’m so sorry, Grian, I carried ya ‘ere last night when I found ya, but I musta been so tired that I fell asleep right 'ere!” Grian blinked, trying to recall last night. <em>Oh yeah, she found him at Sahara. This must be her base.</em></p>
<p>“It’s fine, Stress! If you carried me all the way here, that must have been exhausting! I don’t blame you!” Grian smiled, and Stress smiled back. “Thank ya, love. I was worried ya might’ve made some weird assumptions.”</p>
<p>Grian sighed and looked away from Stress, who tilted her head to the side, concerned. “…sorry about that whole thing. I should’ve been more careful about not missing sleep. I could’ve caused a phantom emergency!” Grian laughed halfheartedly at his own joke.</p>
<p>Stress reached out and put her hand on Grian’s shoulder. “Grian, sweetheart, don’t apologize! Sure, ya need t'take better care of yaself, but I did this cause I care about ya.” He leaned into her hand, and she leaned over, hugging him tightly.</p>
<p>Grian wrapped his arms around Stress, relaxing into the hug. <em>He didn’t really want to let go,</em> and it didn’t seem she wanted to either. He held on a little longer than he probably should have. But, reluctantly, he pulled away to speak.</p>
<p>“Hey, do you know what time it is? There’s an Architech meeting at 11, and I don’t want to get made fun of by Iskall for being late like Mumbo does.” Stress giggled - <em>no, he didn’t feel his heart flutter at that, absolutely not</em> - and stood up, grabbing his hand. <em>Um.</em></p>
<p>“I don’t 'ave a clock in 'ere, so we’ll 'ave to go check. C'mon!” Grian squeaked as Stress pulled him out of bed, ignoring how her laugh made him feel as he stumbled to catch up with her. He found her just in the hallway, staring up at the wall. “Looks like it’s about 10:30.”</p>
<p>“I guess I should go, then.” Grian didn’t dare wonder why the thought of leaving Stress here made his heart hurt. That was a dangerous train of thought.</p>
<p>“Well, I never did finish deliverin’ me ice last night, since I got a bit-” Stress waved her hand at Grian. “-distracted while I was there. I could accompany ya over!” Stress grinned, and Grian felt her happiness in his <em>soul.</em></p>
<p>“Sounds great!” Grian squeaked yet again as Stress grabbed his hand and pulled him through her castle. Her hand was cold, but he found he didn’t mind as much as he thought he would.</p>
<p>The two ran to the outside of Stress’ castle, panting and out of breath by the time they make it. Grian took one look at Stress, a smile seemingly covering his whole face, and burst out laughing. Stress followed suit, and they fell into a giggly mess on the snowy ground.</p>
<p>Stress was the first to regain her composure. “A-alright, we need t'be off if ya don’t want t'be late, love.” She handed Grian a stack of rockets and prepared to take off.</p>
<p>“Wait, Stress.” She looked back curiously, and Grian breathed deeply before speaking. “Thank you.” Stress smiled and turned away, launching herself up into the sky. Grian watched for a moment, grinning to himself, before shooting up into the sky as well, intent on starting a race to Sahara. <em>He should spend some more time with Stress. She was… a good friend.</em></p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>find me at <a href="https://shipmonster101.tumblr.com">shipmonster101</a> on tumblr!<br/>also yes i basically invented this ship but god do i love them</p></blockquote></div></div>
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